Leominster holds off gritty Fitchburg

Fitchburg s Tyri Hampton (10) and Leominster s Connor Skinner vie for the ball during the opening tip-off Tuesday at Fitchburg High School.

FITCHBURG -- It's amazing what a change of location can do.

After falling to Leominster by 31 on the road last month, the Fitchburg boys' basketball team showed marked improvement Tuesday night when it welcomed the Blue Devils to the Doug Grutchfield Field House.

Of course, an improved effort can only take a team so far.

And while there was a bit more urgency shown by the Red Raiders in the second meeting of the season, it was once again the Blue Devils who were able to pick up the win, heading back to Leominster with a 68-56 victory in tow.

Leominster (8-7, 4-4 Midland A) shook off a slow start with a 12-0 spurt in the second quarter and never again trailed. A balanced attack carried the guests, as four players reached double digits in scoring,

"They've been in tight games lately. We knew this wasn't going to be the same team we saw at our place," Leominster head coach Steve Dubzinski said. They average 48 points on the road and 62 at home, so we knew that it was going to be tough. They're getting better, but we did the things we had to do to get a victory."

Junior Anthony Dandini provided the spark Leominster needed in the second quarter, scoring eight of his game-high 24 points in an 84-second span. After a Justin Kebreau (14 points) shot pulled Leominster to within two at 13-11, Dandini buried a jumper in the lane to pull his team even before burying a 3 just 22 seconds later to give the Blue Devils a 16-13 edge.

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"He didn't seem like he missed tonight," Fitchburg head coach Jack Scott said of Dandini's effort. "It was unbelievable."

Twenty-one seconds later, another trey from the forward pushed the lead to six. Noah Gray (14 points, 12 rebounds) capped the 12-0 run with a nifty move in the lane that led to a jumper and a 21-13 advantage.

"Anthony Dandini was monstrous and Justin Kebreau hit a big shot for us in that run," Dubzinski said. "We moved the ball and made the extra pass to get looks tonight. It was a great team effort tonight."

Senior guard Jamie Gonzalez added 12 points in the win.

Leading 46-35 to start the fourth, Leominster withstood a quick 9-3 Fitchburg run to remain in the lead. The Red Raiders saw sophomore Drew Thibeault (19 points) pull them to within 49-44 with one of his five 3-pointers with 6:10 as the hosts tried to rally.

"All summer, that's what we saw from him." Scott said. "I think he's getting comfortable enough at the varsity level to start playing the way he can."

Fitchburg hung tough, but a 3 by Gonzalez followed by a Dandini drive with 1:53 to go pushed the lead to 61-52 and sealed the win.

The Red Raiders (2-12, 0-8 A) jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of some ice-cold shooting from Leominster while converting on their own chances.

"The first time we played, these guys were embarrassed to walk across the floor and get on the bus. This time, they felt like they had something to prove," Scott said. "And obviously there were some things we could have changed things up or responded a little faster to tonight, but I don't have many complaints about how things went. The effort was there tonight."

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